AI connector (Claude)

The AI connector lets Claude work in the model you have open in SketchUp. You describe what you want, and Claude uses Archeform’s own tools to build it. The results are real BIM elements (IfcWall, IfcSlab, IfcBuildingStorey…) with GlobalId, property sets and quantities. You can edit them with the mouse and export them to IFC like anything you drew yourself.

Labs feature

The connector is experimental. It works, but what it can do and how it behaves may change between versions, and it may be removed. It is off by default.

What you need

Archeform BIM	Any supported SketchUp version (2024 / 2025 / 2026)
Claude	Claude Desktop for macOS or Windows, signed in to your Claude account
Alternative	Claude Code (for developers; also needs Node.js)

Claude Desktop runs the connector’s helper program itself, so there is nothing else to install.

Set it up in Claude Desktop

You only do this once.

1. In SketchUp, open the Project palette and click the gear icon to open Project Settings.
2. Scroll to Labs, tick AI connector and click OK. A new button with a small LAB badge appears in the Project palette header.
3. Open Project Settings again. Under Claude Desktop, click Install extension….
4. Claude Desktop opens and shows Archeform BIM (SketchUp). Click Install.

About the red warning in Claude Desktop

When you install it, Claude Desktop warns that the extension gets access to your computer and that the developer has not been verified by Anthropic. This warning appears for every extension that is not from Claude’s own directory.

What the extension does: it passes Claude’s requests to the Archeform plugin on this computer and passes the answers back. It does not connect anywhere else. The source code is included in the plugin, in the se_bim/mcp/ folder.

Use it

1. In SketchUp, click the LAB connector button in the Project palette. The first time, a short explanation appears. Click OK to start the connector. The button turns green while the connector is running.

2. In Claude Desktop, start a new chat and describe what you want, for example:

   Create three storeys 3 m high. On each, draw an outer wall 12 × 9 m, 300 mm thick, and a 250 mm slab. Then show me the building from the front.

3. Watch the model grow. Claude takes screenshots of the model to check its own work before it carries on.

Claude Desktop may ask for your permission the first time Claude uses a tool. You can allow it once or always.

The connector is always off after SketchUp starts. This is deliberate: running the connector opens a local network port, so it only runs when you turn it on. Click the button again to stop it.

What Claude can do

Tool	What it does
model_info, list_storeys	Reads what is in the model: units, element counts, storeys and levels.
create_storey, activate_storey	Creates storeys and switches the active storey.
draw_walls	A chain of walls with mitred corners, open or closed.
create_slab	A slab from an outline.
add_openings	Windows and doors in an existing wall.
create_stair	A stair, with landings added automatically where it turns.
create_footings_from_walls	Strip footings under walls.
batch	Several operations as one undo step.
screenshot	An image of the model, so Claude can check its work.
connector_status	Whether the connector is on and which model it is connected to.

Everything else, such as roofs, zones, editing existing elements, drawings and IFC export, you still do yourself. Elements Claude creates are ordinary Archeform elements, so all your tools work on them.

Undo

Every operation Claude runs is one undo step. If Claude builds something you don’t want, press Undo (Ctrl+Z / Cmd+Z) in SketchUp. A batch of operations is undone together. If an operation fails halfway, SketchUp rolls it back by itself, so no half-built elements are left behind.

Security and privacy

• Off by default, twice over. The Labs setting is off after installation, and the connector itself is off every time SketchUp starts.
• Only this computer. The connector listens on 127.0.0.1. Nothing on your network or the internet can connect to it.
• Token. Every request must carry a secret token that is stored in your user folder (~/.se_bim/bridge_token). This stops websites in your browser from sending commands to it.
• A fixed set of tools. Claude can only call the tools listed above. It cannot run arbitrary code in SketchUp or write files outside ~/.se_bim/shots/ (screenshots, the 50 most recent are kept).
• What leaves your computer. Like anything else in a Claude chat, the tool results go to Claude: element names, dimensions, storey names and the screenshots Claude takes. Your .skp file itself is not uploaded. If the model is confidential, don’t turn the connector on for it.
• Activity log. Every request is logged in ~/.se_bim/bridge.log.

Set it up in Claude Code

For developers who use Claude Code in a terminal. Claude Code needs Node.js installed.

1. Tick Labs → AI connector in Project Settings, as above.
2. Under Claude Code, click Copy.
3. Paste the command into a terminal and run it once. It registers the connector for all your projects.

Watch out

Claude builds in the window at the front

If you have several models open, the connector works in the one that is active. Switching windows while Claude is working moves the rest of the work into the other model. Keep one model open, or don’t switch windows until Claude has finished.

• Dialogs don’t show while Claude is working. Warnings that the plugin would normally show in a dialog are sent back to Claude instead, so SketchUp does not stop and wait for a click nobody is there to make.
• Wall heights are exactly what Claude asks for. A wall is not shortened automatically to fit under the slab above. If walls run into slabs, ask Claude to use the clear height (storey height minus slab thickness).
• Stairs don’t cut the slab. Use Cut Slab Opening afterwards, as you would for a stair you drew yourself.

Troubleshooting

Claude says the connector is off. Click the LAB button in the Project palette. If the button is missing, tick Labs → AI connector in Project Settings first.

“AI connector could not start … port 7331 is probably taken.” Another SketchUp window, or another SketchUp version, already runs the connector. Only one can run at a time. Stop it there, or quit that SketchUp.

Claude doesn’t list any Archeform tools. In Claude Desktop open Settings → Extensions and check that Archeform BIM (SketchUp) is installed and enabled. Then start a new chat.

Claude says SketchUp did not answer. SketchUp is busy with a long operation or waiting on a dialog. Look at the SketchUp window.

Turn it off or remove it

• Stop the connector: click the green LAB button.
• Hide it: untick Labs → AI connector in Project Settings. This also stops a running connector.
• Remove it from Claude: Settings → Extensions → Archeform BIM (SketchUp) → Uninstall in Claude Desktop.

See also

• Storeys
• Walls
• Model check before IFC export